Another Tuesday Post

Hello Everyone,

It would appear that Tuesdays are dedicated as blog update days, though I haven't planned it that way.

First off, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD! 25 years today. Woot! :) Hope your day is super spectacular! Love you!

Now, back to India.

We left for our first camping trip last Wednesday and got back on Saturday. We took five jeeps and drove for about two hours, then had another 30-minute hike when the road ran out. Our camp site is absolutely beautiful. It's not an actual campsite per say - just a terraced area where we set up tents. But the scenery is breathtaking, especially at night when all the stars come out. The first night of sleeping didn't go well for me. I had forgotten just how hard the ground can be. But then I learned that sleeping on your stomach works way better, and I slept soundly the last two nights. We didn't shower at all and there weren't toilets. Need to go to the bathroom? Walk out of camp, cross the bridge into the woods, and pick a tree. They say there is a first time for everything...guess I can check that one off my list. :) We spent a lot of the time at the campsite, just getting adjusted to what future camping trips would be like. We visited a nearby village a couple of times and sang songs. The girls put on a Bible School for some of the village children two of the days, where we sang songs, played games, and someone told a Bible story (in Hindi). Overall, the trip was fun. Everyone stinky made for good bonding time, and we were all thankful for a shower when we got back to the house. I've never felt so clean than after showering off four days' worth of dirt.

Saturday through today has been quiet. We're all catching up on sleep and laundry, preparing for our next camping trip. On Monday, I went with a few other teammates to a local church and helped with a youth retreat there. Tomorrow some of the girls might be going to a nearby village. If it rains, we won't go. Monsoon season hasn't started yet, but it could start any day now. And once monsoon season starts, it rains almost 24/7 for the next three months. I love rain (and we've had a couple of really awesome thunderstorms already) but rain will make hiking and camping a bit less enjoyable.

A lot of the team (6 of the 11) have been sick already. I think a lot of it was just a negative reaction to the food. I'm surprised I haven't felt anything yet, but I have been careful about what I eat and how much. Hopefully everyone will be close to 100% before our next camping trip. We leave this Thursday and will be gone for four days again. This time though, we'll be visiting more villages and delivering vegetable seeds.

A few more things I have learned:
- I am a fan of chai. I don't generally like hot tea or coffee, but chai is delicious.
- A lot of quiet time at the house makes for a lot of time to read scripture. I have really enjoyed that.
- Blonde hair draws a lot of attention. Not many blondes here in India....

I think that's about it for this post. I swear none of these posts do my experience any justice. It's frustrating because I know that I am forgetting a lot and what I do write about, it's just a general overview. All the more reason to hunt me down when I get home (but please wait a few days). And I end up writing these in the evening when I am tired, which doesn't help matters any either. Ugh.

Also, in case you were wondering, I have temporarily deactivated my Facebook account for security reasons. Keyword: temporarily. I will be back.

Prayer requests:
-Contined health and unity of the team.
-Safety for our next camping trip, both traveling to the campsite and traveling from the campsite to nearby villages.

Current total number of pictures: 114
Current total number of videos: 8
Number of full memory cards: 1